Things to do
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Kolossi Castle
A square keep west of the city carries the arms of the Order of Saint John, whose sugar estates once worked the plain around it. Commandaria, the sweet wine still made in the hill villages, takes its name from this commandery. The climb to the roof is short, and the ruined sugar mill next door is easy to miss.
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Kourion
Greco Roman city on a bluff above Episkopi Bay, where a restored theatre looks straight out to sea and hosts summer performances. Mosaic floors in the House of Eustolios survive under a modern roof, with a Christian inscription at the entrance. Wind on the cliff is constant, and the stadium and sanctuary of Apollo lie further along the road.
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Limassol Castle
Medieval fortress near the old harbour, remembered as the place where Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre, though little of that building survives. What stands is largely an Ottoman rework over Lusignan foundations, now the Cyprus Medieval Museum, with tombstones, armour and pottery in vaulted halls. An hour covers it, and the roof opens over the old town.
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Limassol Marina
Yacht berths, restaurants and apartment blocks occupy a reclaimed stretch beside the old port, built over the last decade and now the smart end of the seafront. Walkways run out among the moorings and back to the castle in a few minutes. It is a place to eat and stroll, and the boats are the view.
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Omodos
Cobbled lanes climb to a monastery square in the Troodos foothills, in a wine village that has leaned into visitors without losing its vines. Timiou Stavrou monastery holds a carved wooden ceiling and a relic of the Holy Cross, and old olive and wine presses stand open along the side streets. Weekends bring coaches, and a weekday morning is quiet.
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Troodos Mountains
Pine covered range rising to Mount Olympus, cool through the summer and carrying a short ski season on the north slopes in winter. Painted Byzantine churches scattered through the valleys hold UNESCO listing, their frescoes crowded onto steep timber roofed walls. Roads are narrow and slow, so one valley in a day works better than a loop of three.